How can you run a full range of current applications on older
computers, netbooks, thin clients, and mobile devices? One way is to
install a lightweight Linux like Puppy, Lubuntu, or Vector Light.
Select the distro with the apps that meets your needs while matching
your computer's resources.

However, TinyCore's iso is only 10.5 MB -- 1/12th the size of Puppy's iso. That's a contemporary OS with a fairly robust GUI that fits into 10.5 MB!

Of course, to keep things small, the TinyCore iso has very few applications included. The user chooses the programs to install.

As someone else mentioned further down in the thread, Puppy runs everything as root, TinyCore doesn't.

TinyCore has more options on how to configure the "persistence" of applications and user data. For instance, in TC, one can choose which applications load into ram, and one can choose whether to automatically save some data in an archived backup file with other data saved in a normal directory on a partition.

Like Puppy, TinyCore has an installer and it can be run live from CDs/DVDs, USB flash drives, flash cards, etc. However, TinyCore can also be installed merely by dragging two files from the iso onto one's hard drive, an then directing the boot loader to those files.

TinyCore is younger and growing rapidly, but most of the major growing pains are behind.